Sunday, May 17, 2015

Archers Hope, No Need for an Anchor to Slow Them Down

Broken Anchor - Releasing their brand of Alternative Rock out of Williamsburg, VA this band of young gentlemen lean out into the world of music and onto their guitar strings. From the opening piano strikes in “Walls” Archers Hope hold nothing back and let all their emotions pour out of their heart and straight into their amplifiers. The band has crossover appeal due to the fact of Drew’s melodic vocal approach. Guitar work from Drew and Corey do well to play phrases that move from pads to dissonant passages that open up to chords that soar to the stratosphere like in “Canvas”. The backbone of this band is the drum work from Ben who holds a tight lock on the tempo. With heavy double kick work there is enough drum action here to keep the average Metalhead banging. Ben’s ability to lay textual work behind the melody on this release does well to accent the songs, and he avoids playing heavy just to show off his chops. The shrill guitar tones in the opening of “Tomorrow” exemplify the fact that Archers Hope have some real feeling in their gut and aren’t just following formulas in mainstream Alternative Rock. Hailing the low frequencies like Poseidon in a furious rage John lays down a bed of 4 string girth that gives each song immense power. Even in a power ballad number like “Always” you will find yourself swaying to the cadence of the song due to the pulsing from the bass and its hypnotic groove. Lightning fast single note runs of “Morning Star” hook up with the grit from the bass and hammer of the drum kit to create a musical ecstasy that most Thrash guys will appreciate. They uncannily bridge the classic soundscapes from Alt Rock to Heavy Metal on this release and will surly please followers of both camps. Overall this is a professional release. The mix has quite a bit of breathing room. The vocals shine through and melodies are allowed to spread their wings so that they can rise above the mountains and dive into the valleys of these songs. Guitars have the room to grind without crowding the snap of the snare or slap of the kick drum. With the tune “Brighter” acoustic guitars take over to deliver a solid yet more mellow take of the band. While vocals and lyrics sound as if they lacked some focus here, I am sure with more experiments such as these Archers Hope could easily crank out an interesting acoustic album just as potent as their electric numbers. Phrasing and structure on “My Everything” is rather interesting and while it has an anthemic quality it has a unique flow to it to keep you on the balls of your feet as it bobs and weaves. Closing just as it opened the song “Compass” employs the use of piano which by itself and vocals for the first half of the song, lends for a nice mellow “fade out” track. This is a solid release that I would recommend to those who like Rock, Alternative Rock, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal genres. While the guys from Archers Hope my have delivered a Broken Anchor here they are far from just drifting to sea. They are on a mission and have no need for an anchor because they don’t sound like they want to dock anytime soon.